Wild West
by AmbyrRose
Summary: After a run-in with a bat and a car, the gang ends up as delinquent workers at a "correctional" dude ranch. Hard to describe, better than it sounds. Possible Bade, Tandré, Bat. Rating may change.
1. Bang

**P****rologue: Ban****g**

_BANG. BANG. BANG._

"Jade?"

"Oh, it's you." _BANG. BANG. BANG._

"What – what are you doing? That's my car!"

_BANG._ "Stay away from my boyfriend."

"Are you _serious_? I swear I never _looked_ at him – give me that! Stop it!"

"No! Tori, let go – give it back – ow!"

"Ouch!"

"Hey!"

"Whoa, stop! What's going on?"

"Stay out of this, Beck!"

"Yeah, shut up, we're only fighting 'cause of you!"

"All right, just calm down . . ."

"_NEVER_ tell a girl to calm down!"

"D-augh! Jade! You _hit_ me!"

"I'll make it up to you later, right now I'm gonna _end_ this gank!"

"Beck, help! She's gonna kill me!"

"Don't you _talk_ to my boyfriend!"

"Jade –"

"Whoa, whoa, what's going –?"

"André, look out –"

"OUCH!"

"JADE!"

"Ooh, group fight scenes, I love group fight scenes!"

"Cat, get out!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

_CRASH._

"Stop it!"

"_You_ stop!"

"Augh!"

"Ow!"

"_Oomph!_"

"Ack!"

"HEY! What is going on here?"

"Lane, I can explain –"

"Holy – _what_ did you kids do to this car?"

"It's my car –"

"I didn't –"

"_She_ wouldn't –"

"I thought there were cupcakes –"

"Enough! That's it. I can't take it anymore. This – this has got to stop. It _will_ stop. I don't know how, but it will, I swear. Come on, my office. _Now_."

"But Lane –"

"NOW!"

". . . Crap."


	2. Smack

**S****mac****k**

Lane paced back and forth fanatically, running his hands through his hair and shaking his head. Tori, Beck, André, Jade and Cat waited expectantly. Tori could feel cold tendrils snaking around her stomach. She'd never seen Lane like this before. It was more than slightly unnerving.

"I still can't believe you did this," he said finally, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands. "And on the last day before exams, too. So close."

"How do you know it was us?" Jade demanded sulkily.

"Jade, you still have a Louisville Slugger in your hand!" he exploded.

Jade threw it onto the couch beside her. "Circumstantial."

"I don't care!" He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he was abruptly, eerily calm. "I really don't want to do this."

"So don't."

He shot her a look that was downright evil, and then continued coolly, "You've given me no choice. Beck Oliver, Tori Vega, Cat Valentine, André Harris and Jade West, for vandalizing a car and brawling in the parking lot I'm sentencing you to community service at Cloud Valley Dude Ranch."

There was a moment of shocked silence, broken by Tori's spluttering. "Dude Ranch? As in, like, sheep and cows and stuff?"

"Specifically, horses." At this point, Lane seemed almost cheerful. "You'll be caring for a barn full of horses, two foals, and a pregnant mare. The owner is a personal friend of mine."

Tori was still spluttering. "But – but – that was _my_ car! I'm the victim here – what did _I_ do?"

"You started it," Jade hissed. Beck grabbed her arm and shot her a warning look.

"Tori, I saw you and Jade fighting," Lane said, shaking his hands. "You had her by the extensions – I honestly believe you would have torn her hair out by the roots if I hadn't come along."

She glared at Jade. "At least I would've won."

He pointed his finger at her as if she'd just proved his point. "There! That is exactly what I mean! Now you guys have been fighting ever since you met – maybe getting out of the school setting will let you work that out."

"By setting a mustang on her, maybe," Jade growled.

Beck rolled his eyes, standing. "But what did I do?"

Lane was obviously growing impatient, wagging a finger between him and Jade. "You two have got the worst relationship Hollywood Arts has ever seen. Maybe you can get some couples therapy while you're up there . . . or at least some distance."

"We don't _want_ separation," Jade snapped.

"Well –"

_Smack_.

"I was kidding!" Beck complained, rubbing the back of his head. She folded her arms, unconvinced.

André stood, too. "What did me and Cat do? We were just there!"

"Exactly. Just – just go, okay? I think it'll be good for you guys. End of discussion." He turned back to his papers. There was nothing else for them to do besides file out the door, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"I can't believe this," André muttered.

"What did I do?" Cat asked, confused.

"Nothing," Beck said, rubbing his nose and shooting Jade a very sour look. She rounded on him instantly.

"Oh sure, blame _me_."

"You're the one who took the baseball bat to Tori's convertible!"

"She started it!"

"Drop it!" Tori snapped, throwing her hands up. "It's not gonna change anything. We're just gonna have to grin and bear it." Definitely no grins. "Come on, you guys, haven't you ever dreamed of being cowboys? Or cowgirls?"

No one answered. They reached the corner and split off warily. Jade beckoned imperiously to Beck, and he followed resignedly. André gestured to Tori, and Cat followed them to lunch.

Jade looked darkly over her shoulder after them. "'Good for you'," she muttered. "Like hell for a sinner."

. . .

**Calling all reviewers! Calling all reviewers!  
I have been and still am busybusybusyBUSY, and as you've probably figured out business is the death of creativity. That's why I am enlisting your help. I have some ideas, but what horrors await our intrepid quintet (soon to be a septet, hint hint)? Post ideas as reviews, and I'll sort through and get in touch with the best ideas. Don't be offended if I don't respond right away, because that probably just means that I am still, as always, busybusybusyBUSY.**

**THANK YOU!  
~AmbyrRose**


	3. Stomp

Stomp

"Welcome to Cloud Valley Ranch," the bus driver announced, screeching the doors open. "Safe haven for all who've had a hard life. Last stop, folks, everybody out."

Luggage was tossed out onto dusty pavement; doors were closed and the bus rumbled away. The band of five stood in the road, belongings scattered around them, staring up in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding," muttered Beck.

Letters that probably used to be iron spelled out _Cloud Valley Ranch_ over a wooden arch of three beams. Only one of the letters had rusted straight through, so it looked more like _Cloud Vulley_. Rolling hills stretched into the distance, marbled the yellow, green and orange of grass and clay. A few horses grazed at the edge of the horizon, where the hill dipped away into the distance. There was a red-painted, tin-roofed barn, a large antebellum farmhouse, and a smaller, shabbier set of cabins to the side.

"No. Freaking. Way." Jade said flatly.

Tori had to agree.

The farmhouse door opened, and out stepped a bona fide cowboy, about their age, complete with button-up shirt, leather boots and hat. He was wearing jeans, but his arms were bronzed with sun and the collar-length hair curling from underneath his Stetson was streaked with gold. When he spotted the newcomers, his face split into a broad grin.

"God help us," Jade said under her breath. "A bumpkin."

"Hey," the bumpkin called in a mild Southern accent, jogging over. "Are y'all the new recruits?"

"I'm Beck Oliver," Beck said, stepping forward to shake his hand. "This is André Harris, Tori Vega, Cat Valentine –"

"You're really cute for a bumpkin," Cat said brightly, smiling at him. He smiled back, slightly confused.

"–and this is Jade West."

He looked at her and his confusion vanished. "Hi," he said, flashing her a dazzling grin. "I'm Mason Joel."

"I'm his girlfriend, so screw off."

His grin widened. "Real ray of sunshine, isn't she?"

"Don't mind her, she's not exactly psyched to be here," said Beck as Jade spat something unprintable.

"They usually aren't," Mason said cheerfully, scooping up a few of the girls' bags. "You get used to it. C'mon, y'all's rooms are right this way."

They started after him, but Tori paused when her phone beeped from her pocket. She fished it out and held it over her head, her eyes widening. "Wait – no signal? There's no signal out here? Why is there no signal?"

The look Mason gave her was slightly pitying. "Well, Tori, this isn't exactly the middle of nowhere, but if you get way up on that hill you can see it from here."

"But –"

"There's a landline in the Big House for family and emergencies," Mason recited, pointing to the antebellum-type mansion on the crest of the hill. This was obviously not the first time he'd had to say this. "Your phone will still work by the end of the two months. I swear you'll live without TV or Internet, too."

Jade's eyes bugged. "No – wait – _what?_"

He sighed. "Yeah, let's just get y'all to the cabins. I'll take any other questions up there, all right?" After a few glares and a shove aimed in Tori's direction, they filed after him toward the shabby-looking cabins in the distance. Wood-post fences with brambly wiring stretched between them lined the dusty road in. Nine horses lined the roads alone. Cat counted, very loudly and cheerfully.

"Girls are in this cabin –" Mason gestured to the creaky old cabin on the left "– and boys in this one." He gestured to the downright falling apart cabin on the right. Beck and André stared at him incredulously. "What?"

"Now you're sure that's not just gonna crash down on our heads in the middle of the night?" André said, eyeing the rusted nails and half-unhinged doors.

Mason snorted. "It's stood up to worse characters than y'all, that's for sure. What did you do to land yourself here?"

Before anyone could answer – or Jade could lunge for Tori's hair again – the door of the girl's cabin swung open with a screech, and a woman stepped out. She had thick, wiry russet hair, mostly stuffed under a grand cowboy hat that put Mason's to shame. Freckles decorated every inch of her, and the tang of cigarette smoke hung around her like a fog. "These the newbies?"

"Yeah, fresh from LA," Mason said, stepping forward for introductions. Before he could, however, the woman groaned loudly.

"Ah, not more city slickers, I can't hardly stand these last two."

Cat perked up. "Two more people? Really?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Guy and gal, 'though the guy wears enough makeup to be a gal. I been in there tryin' to calm down our gal for a good quarter hour."

_Stomp. Stomp. Stomp._

"If that's rats," Jade broke in, "I'm going home. End of story."

The woman seemed almost amused. "Nah, that'd be the gal I told y'all 'bout. I finally told her if she was gonna do any more snot-slingin', do it over a shovel, 'cause we got some stalls that need muckin'." She smiled mirthlessly. "That's her tryin' to keep the tantrum in."

"And she's our roommate?" Tori asked, already debating the highest point to jump off in this place.

The woman jerked her head. "Ask her yourself. Maybe it'll get her to shut up." She took a cigarette from her back pocket, clenched it between her teeth, and spoke while lighting it. "I'm y'all's supervisor, at any rate. Laurie Alisa Joel. Call me Laurie."

"Joel? His mom?" Beck asked, gesturing to Mason.

"Nah, my aunt," Mason said, obviously starting to strain under the weight of the girls' bags. "Shall we?" Leaving the luggage in a neat pile at his feet, he stepped past Laurie into the boys' cabin. Shooting the girls dubious looks, Beck and André followed. Laurie seemed to want nothing more than to stand in the sun and chain smoke until her lungs gave out, so Cat, Tori and Jade crept cautiously past her, snatched their bags, and headed into the cabin on the left.

The entire cabin was one room, with shabby wooden cubbies by the door and bunks built into the walls, in some places three high. A small shower stood in one corner, protected only by a flimsy polyester curtain. Two cracked sinks stood under a flecked, age-stained mirror. And in the corner, by the one section of wall not covered by cubby or bunk, stood a horribly, horribly familiar girl, her face buried against the wall with her arms crossed over her head. The _stomp, stomp, stomp_, was coming from her Fezzini boots, slamming rhythmically into the scrubby wooden floor as muffled sobs shook her entire frame.

Tori knew those sobs. ". . . _Trina_?"

She looked up, her cheeks streaked with mascara and her eyes puffy and red. Yes, that was definitely her, and her throat worked furiously as her eyes widened with shock. "T-T-Tori? What're _you_ guys doing here?"

"Tori forced me to teach her a lesson and got us all stuck here," Jade said bluntly, dealing the room in general the evil eye before claiming the least dusty bottom bunk for herself. "What'd you do to land yourself in this place?"

Trina actually grabbed the front of Jade's shirt, suddenly fierce. "_I_ did _nothing_," she said ferociously, puffy eyes wild. "I did _nothing_ to end up in hillbilly hell, it was all _him_!"

Jade looked at her, face unreadable. In a remarkable display of control for her, she reached up slowly and unclenched each finger, one by one. Tori, who, despite many a trying moment did not actually hate her sister, put one arm around her shoulders awkwardly. "C'mon, Trina, it might not be so bad."

"Yeah, right!"

"Who's he?" Cat asked mildly, who had been watching this entire display as if it was a slightly amusing sitcom. Trina looked up, suddenly wild again.

"_Robbie Shapiro!_"

Tori grabbed her shoulders as she attempted to lunge again; Jade scooted to the side warily. "Ooh, Robbie's here too?" Cat asked brightly.

"Yes –" Lunge. "He couldn't manage –" Kick. "The stupid Grub Truck –" Pounce. "And he took me down with him!"

"Oh yeah, I heard about the Burrito Incident," Cat said, giggling. Trina's manicured claws missed her nose by an inch.

"Cat," Tori said in a voice of forced calm. "Would you be a dear and go look inside Trina's suitcase? It's the Louis Vuitton in the corner."

"Kay-kay!"

"There should be a bottle of water and a pill box under her shoes. Toss them to me."

Trina, still fighting viciously, groaned, but Tori deftly popped the pill into her mouth and fairly forced the water down her throat – with plenty also soaking her face. She blinked, and then slowly, slowly, the fight went out of her and she slowly sat on her bed, eyes glassy. Tori nodded briskly, apparently satisfied.

Jade snorted. "Tranquilizers? Really?"

"Yeah, don't talk about it, she doesn't like that. Cat, put those down!" she added sharply, as Cat's brightly inquisitive eyes searched the pill box.

She pouted. "Aww, but they're so _pink_ . . ." Still, she put them down as Mason burst back into the room.

"How're y'all ladies settling?"

"Hey!" Jade barked. "If you think you're going to just waltz in here whenever you want –"

He held up his hands in surrender, that same sardonic grin on his face. "Easy, princess. I was just coming to say that y'all can spend the next day settling in. Tomorrow the real work begins. Dinner's at six. See y'all then." And with a mock bow at Jade, he left.

There was a moment of desolate silence in the room. Trina was still staring off into space. Jade flopped down on her bed, coughed at the dust, and started mumbling what she would do to that cowboy if she could. Cat found a knot in the wood of her bunk that looked like a cupcake. Tori just sat down on a bunk, closed her eyes, and wished the next two months away.

**. . .**

**Shoutout to TwiTori90, a faithful reviewer. Look for your idea next chapter :)**

**I know beggars can't be choosers, but seriously? One review? That's your only idea for five actors - one of whom is bipolar and another who has violent tendencies - stuck on a horse ranch? C'mon, peoples, I have some ideas of my own, but I'm reeeeally curious as to what you've got to say! Come on, come on, come ON!  
Love you**

**AmbyrRose**


	4. Crack

**A shoutout to TwiTori90, who gave me the idea for Tori and Jade's latest spat. Thank you so much - besides being fun to write, it was a clever idea that wove in quite nicely. Another shoutout to Dlwritingproduction's for another idea that will be used much later - probably as a sort of climax. You guys rock! Enjoy!**

Crack

The next couple days or so, for most of them, was every bit the hillbilly hell Trina had dreaded.

They were woken bright and early by Robbie's yelling. A horse had taken a liking to Rex's hair, and when the group rushed outside at nearly five-thirty in the morning, Robbie and it were playing a winner-take-all tug-of-war. Jade, her hair resembling the Bride of Frankenstein and her face resembling a pre-eruption volcano, marched up and yanked Rex away so vigorously a hank of his hair remained in the horse's teeth. She punched Robbie in the face and went back to bed.

And was dragged out by the ear by Laurie. Breakfast at six, she informed them – show up late, you don't eat. And if Jade used one of her favorite words in front of her again, she was washing every single mouth present with saddle soap. If that wasn't bad enough, they actually had a dress code: button-down shirts, jeans, and boots, which could be bought or rented at the Big House. "To help y'all get in the spirit of things," Laurie said with a cheeky wink. Tori closed her eyes briefly and prayed for patience.

Cat, of course, was enchanted by everything; she regarded the entire place as a magical playground. She bought her own pair of cowboy boots, the pink patent leather glaringly inappropriate for any kind of ranch work, before breakfast the first day. A matching hat soon followed, and soon she was swaggering around, talking in a horribly fake Southern accent and giggling at herself. Beck smiled. Trina, whose tranquilizer had long since worn off, snarled.

When they had all personalized their clothes to the best of their ability (Jade ripped hers along a barbed-wire fence five times before she was satisfied), they filed in for breakfast. They might as well have landed smack in the middle of Georgia for the breakfast they got: scrambled eggs with butter, cheese and grits, towers of pancakes and enough syrup for twenty. Considering their former determination to be miserable, they ate like starving truck drivers. André alone ate at least five helpings of everything and a stack of pancakes maybe eight deep, washing it all down with a glass of whole milk. Cat, whose birdlike appetite had her seriously considering vegetarianism, polished off a stack of six pancakes and four sausages, much to the shock of everyone present. At seven o'clock, they waddled off to their various duties.

They were split into teams, Lane's influence obvious: Beck and André, Robbie and Trina, Jade and Tori, and Cat with Mason. They were shown the basics of horse care – which one was the bridle (what you used to steer while riding) and which was the halter (the one you led them to pasture with), the difference between feeds, a brief overview of care of pregnant mares – and turned out to their various duties. Beck and André were armed with a halter and lead rope each and sent to bring in the horses from the south pasture for feeding. Trina and Robbie, who had obviously put up the most fight in coming (it was rumored that Lane's arm was still in a sling), were sent to muck out stalls, with Trina on the rake and Robbie on the wheelbarrow. Cat was going with Mason to help with odd jobs. And Tori and Jade were grooming the newest addition to the barn, a mare named Gray Lady.

"Of course it had to be you," Jade muttered venomously.

"I could say the same about you," Tori pointed out, moving the curry comb in deep, even circles like they'd been shown. Believe it or not, she could actually get used to this. Sure the barn didn't smell the best, but the horse's coat didn't actually smell too bad, and it was fuzzy and almost tickled her fingers when she brushed up against it. Small circles with the curry comb, long strokes with the hard brush, sensitive places with the soft brush. Easy.

Jade, who had the task of combing snarls from the thick, silvery tail, was not as optimistic as Tori. Of course she had to get stuck with Little Miss Sunshine. Knowing her, she'd be riding off into the sunset like a cowgirl in a movie by the end of the week, and Jade herself would be stuck with an Ugly Stepsister complex, still untangling manes and tails in a backwoods stall. And this end of the horse didn't exactly smell as good as the end Tori was on.

A sharp pain in her foot brought her internal grumbling to an abrupt end. "What the –?" She looked down, stumbling back slightly. She stumbled because one foot was trapped under Gray Lady's steel-shod hoof, which was pressing down more and more with each passing moment. Jade could've sworn she heard a faint _crack_.

"Hey! Hey – _ouch_! Get off you stupid, stupid horse! OW!" She slapped it sharply on the hindquarters, and then slammed her entire body against its haunch, as the slap seemed to have no effect whatsoever. Lady shifted over obligingly, and Jade yanked her foot free. "No-good son of a –"

"Hey," Tori said sharply, looking up from her grooming for the first time.

Jade, who was literally hopping on one foot while clutching the other, glared at her mutinously. "_What?_"

"First off, she's a girl," Tori said tartly while Jade tested her weight on her aching foot. "Second, there is no reason to talk to her like that. She didn't mean it, did you, girl?" she crooned, stroking her velveteen nose. "Did the big bad Jade hurt you? Did she hurt you, poor thing?"

Jade spluttered, rendered temporarily speechless. She made up for it, however, by lunging around the horse and raking the comb through Tori's hair. The horse was instantly forgotten.

"OUCH!" Tori dropped her curry, snatched up an industrial-sized comb, and yanked it through the other girl's hair. Pearly red extensions dropped sharply to the ground as Jade shrieked. And pounced. Tori cried out as chocolate hair tangled and snapped. She caught the back of Jade's head, twisting it for better grip.

"Augh!"

"Ahh!"

"_Oh!_"

"OW!"

. . .

"Yo, Tori," André said over a lunch of country-smoked ham sandwiches, "why is there a gap in your ponytail?"

Tori groaned and made a vain attempt to rearrange her hair over the thin white bald streak. "Jade." She glanced over at the other girl, who was stabbing her ham with a fork and fingering the hairless clump behind her ear. "Don't worry, I got in my shots."

André opened his mouth – and closed it. Let the sleeping dogs lie.

A few seats away, Robbie was still trying to bring Rex around. "C'mon, man, you know I had no choice –"

"Oh yeah," Rex scoffed, "like I'm buying that. I didn't see nobody rip me out of your hands. You just set me down, right there. Left me, just like that!"

"I was mucking horse stalls, you really didn't want to come along –"

"Excuses! I know abandonment when I see it!"

Robbie opened his mouth to argue, but a shout from outside cut him off. It was a girl, and she sounded almost panicked. "That's Beth," Mason muttered, and dropped his fork and ran. The others, never ones to miss a show, followed.

A girl had climbed halfway up the fence, standing on the lowest beam and shouting. Inside the pen was Cat, creeping toward a spindly-legged colt with wild eyes.

"Hey! Hey, what're you doing? Get away from him! Girl, that colt is loco, he's nearly flattened everybody who's come near him! Get out of there!"

"Oh – Cat!" They ran to the fence. Beck jumped and was already halfway over the fence when the girl grabbed his arm.

"Are you loco, too? That thing will trample you!" He attempted to shrug her off, but she held tight.

"Cat!" Tori called, her knuckles whitening on the wood beam. "Cat, please, _please_ come here!"

Cat either didn't hear them or completely ignored them, skipping toward the wide-eyed foal. "Hello there!" she called to it cheerfully. It skittered away, and she slowed, holding up her hands slightly in supplication. "Oh no, it's all right. My name is Cat, I came here yesterday 'cause . . . well, I don't really know why, but Lane was mad, so here I am!" She flourished her hand and the colt, which had almost relaxed, balked again. "Oh sorry! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that . . . come here . . ." Gently, tenderly, she reached up and touched the very tip of the foal's nose.

They caught their breath.

The foal relaxed, timidly poking back a bit. Cat giggled and stroked its face. Soon enough it was rubbing up against her like a big, gangly puppy, and she was laughing in delight. Beck sank back from the fence. Tori let out the air she'd been intending to scream with. André even managed a nervous laugh.

Mason whistled. "Whoa. She's a special one."

"She sure is," Beck agreed.

"I could've told you that," Jade muttered.

The girl on the fence hopped down, laughing in amazement. "Sorry I made y'all come running, but I had no idea she could do that." She brushed her hair out of her face, and Tori realized just how beautiful she really was. She had flaxen blonde hair, pulled up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face, with sun-kissed skin and just a splash of freckles. She smiled, and something in the slant of her cheek and the blue in her eyes left Tori certain of who she was, even before she spoke. "I'm Bethany Joel, Mason's sister."

"Hi," said Tori.

"Nice to meet you," said Beck.

"Um," said Robbie. His face was oddly slack, his eyes wide and glassy, as if he'd accidentally swallowed one of Trina's tranquilizers. Rex had been dropped in the dirt, lying silent as though stunned. André elbowed him quickly, and he started. "Robbie! I mean – I'm Sobbie Rapiro – I mean –"

Bethany laughed, and introductions were made so Robbie could get his tongue back in working order. Lunch hour was basically done anyway, so they headed back to their respective stations, with Tori and Jade now grooming _separate_ horses.

But there was one thing Tori couldn't get out of her head, even as she ran the brush along a chestnut gelding's back: the look on Trina's face when they'd introduced her to Bethany. Nobody but her sister would have recognized it; it was gone in an instant. But Tori was absolutely certain that, for some reason, Trina Vega hated Bethany Joel with every bone in her body.

Great, another feud. And it wasn't two o'clock on their first day.

**...**

**Likes? Dislikes? Review please!**


	5. Bump

Bump

Even with them so out of their elements, everything gets easier with time, and by the end of the first week they were regular pros at their duties. The smell was hardly bothering Robbie and Trina by now, and Tori could curry, brush, and comb any horse present in five minutes flat. Cat, whose very presence seemed to have a soothing effect on unbroken foals, had the special task of helping barn train them, which she was absolutely thrilled with. And they all knew most of the horses and their temperaments by now, even if trying to tell the nice chestnut mare with a white right leg from the vicious chestnut stallion with a white left leg got downright dangerous at points.

But the most marked change was André, who, contrary to the squint lines and calluses wearing into the others' faces and hands, was absolutely flourishing. The horses took to him like foals to Cat, and Mason even took him aside for a while before lunch.

When he came to lunch, he was beaming. "Tori! Tori, come here!" She gave him a questioning look as she stood, but he just bounced on the balls of his feet, grinning. When she was close enough, he snatched her hand and pulled her out the door.

"Where are we going?" she asked as they raced along the dirt road.

"You'll see" was his only answer.

They finally arrived at a side pasture, on the opposite side of the ranch than André and Beck usually worked. He came to an old gate, unlatching it with the scrape of rusted metal. Ever the gentleman, he held it open for her, and she walked in warily. She'd figured out a while ago to be very, very cautious if unable to see a pasture's occupants.

"There she is," André said proudly, pointing. "Dakota."

Tori stared. "You dragged me out of lunch on fried chicken day just to see the world's fattest horse?"

He rolled his eyes and headed for the fat horse in question, a beautiful palomino. "Come on. I'll show you." She followed, until they were standing directly beside her. She didn't seem to notice, but continued grazing nonchalantly.

Tori was both very hungry and unimpressed. "Sooo . . . ?"

André sighed. "Here." He took her hand and pressed it against the curve of the horse's stomach, his hand almost entirely covering hers. "What do you feel?"

Calluses. Warm, rough calluses across his knuckles and tracing each fingertip. The knuckles had to be from the work, but his fingertips were the calluses of a musician, from endless plucking at a guitar and caressing a piano. A smooth palm, creases running through like road maps . . .

And under her fingertips – just strong enough to tear her attention away from his hand – was a faint _bum-bump, bum-bump, bum-bump_. And an undeniable stirring as something inside moved.

"Whoa!" Tori was so surprised she actually jumped back a bit, breaking both connections. And she honestly couldn't decide which one she was more disappointed at losing. "There's something _alive_ in there!"

"Yeah, that's the general idea," said André, grinning.

She stared at him again, the pieces slowly but surely coming together. "But . . . she . . . she's pregnant?"

His nod was almost proud. "Yep. And I am officially on foalwatch – I get to feed her, make sure everything's coming along right, and even get to help her deliver."

With a delighted squeal, Tori threw her arms around his neck. "Oh André, that's _great_! I love babies! Oh, can I help you, please, please?" Without waiting for an answer, she swung back around and ran her hand along the mare's flank, trying to find the baby again.

"No, no, right about here." He took her hand again, moving it until the tiny presence was tangible again. Once they found it, he didn't let go, but stood with his hand over her and his chest against her back. They didn't say anything, but stood there, fingers overlapping as they both strained for that whisper of a heartbeat.

It was nearly fifteen glorious minutes before Tori's growling stomach forced them to leave. But the visit was soon to become one of many.

**. . .**

Riding lessons started that afternoon. Fancy Western saddles with tooled leather and saddle horns that weighed more than their carriers were slung over horses' backs, girths tightened and stirrups adjusted. "Be grateful," Mason said as Robbie complained about the weight. "At least it's comfortable. Y'all ever tried an English saddle? Beth calls 'em 'granite leather'."

"Sure," Robbie panted, leaning up against the post. "If I even have the strength to get up there after this."

"Okay, horsey," Tori said nervously, holding out the bridle like a grenade. She jabbed up with it, and the horse's head jabbed higher. She jabbed; it jabbed. "Just – hold – still –"

"You can't do it like that."

She spun around. André was leaning up against the wall, watching her struggle with half a smile on his face. "They don't like sudden movements. You've got to go slow and steady."

"I tried," Tori said, gritting her teeth, "but it keeps jerking its head way up there!"

"Here," he said, moving forward, "let me try." He took the bridle from her hands and stepped so that he was facing the same way as the mare. "Here, girl . . . that's better . . ." He stroked her nose until she lowered it, then slipped the bridle over her ears and worked her mouth until she docilely opened it for the bit. He cinched the throatlatch and grinned over at Tori. "See? You just gotta show her that you're not afraid, so she shouldn't be."

Tori stared. "Wow. How'd you get so good?"

Wrong question; he blinked and looked away. "Umm . . . a girl I knew taught me. Come on, girl," he added hastily, leading the mare from the stall.

Tori followed. "Why don't I believe she was just a girl you 'knew'?" He led the mare over to a mounting block, Tori tagging suspiciously after them. "Okay, how 'bout this: did you know the girl or her lips better?"

"Tori!"

"André!"

André sighed, still halfway up the mounting block. "Okay, yeah, I knew her pretty well. For maybe four months. Haven't seen her since. Happy?"

Not really, she reflected. As a matter of fact, she actually felt like she'd swallowed a hunk of lead. What was that? And why was she suddenly imagining meeting a girl she'd never heard of till now (blue-eyed blonde, of course) and clawing her eyes out?

André slung his leg over the saddle as he gathered his thoughts. With the reins in one hand and the other resting on the saddle horn, he looked every inch the cowboy, albeit one with an Arcade Fire t-shirt under his button-up. "There's a gelding I saddled up at the end. Mind if I take this one?"

"Um – no problem." Still slightly stunned at the vehemence of her feelings, she backed away, heading for the gelding, whose stall door read _Cricket_. André had already tacked him up, so after a foot in the stirrup and an awkward struggle, she made it over the saddle. Oh, wow. That was really high.

"Everybody ready?" called Mason from the front. Trina was clutching the saddle horn with both hands. Robbie's eyes were shut. Beck looked nervous, Jade furious with the world. Tori was pretty freaked herself. Only André and Cat looked totally at home, Cat smiling and André relaxed. Mason sighed, praying for patience. "All right, let's move out to the arena."

All in all, it could have been worse, Tori reflected. There were only four gaits, easy enough: walk, trot, canter and gallop. Walk was easy enough, if a bit bumpy. The trot was brutal, a 1-2-beat bounce that nearly threw her from the saddle every time. Robbie actually had to pull over to get motion sick, to the disgust of Jade. Mason said the most critical part was keeping your legs pressed against the saddle – which would explain why the insides of her legs were burning in ways she didn't know possible. André was sniggering at her feeble attempts to cling on, and Jade was gritting her teeth so hard it was audible from halfway across the ring. Cat let out a little "uh-uh-uh-uh" noise every time the horse bounced. When Mason finally called out "Enough, whoa!"

They yanked on the reins until their horses ground to a halt. He surveyed them speculatively, and Tori didn't like that look at all. "Y'all wanna canter?"

There was a collective "NO!" even from Cat. Jade, however, cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "I'll do it."

"Are you crazy?" Beck hissed. Jade ignored him.

Mason raised an eyebrow. "Well, all right then. Jab her behind the girth with your left foot and hold on tight."

"I will," she said defiantly. And, one hand wrapped around the saddle horn and the other at the reins, she jabbed at the horse and clung as it bolted.

_One-two-three_,_ one-two-three_,_ one-two-three_. That was Tori's first impression as the horse rocked back and forth, its hooves thudding out a rhythm. _One-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three_. Jade's hair was flying back in the wind, her face oddly blank.

Mason let out a whoop. "Great! That's great! Now pull her to a stop! I said _stop_!"

But Jade didn't stop. Jade kept going, and going, pulling up the halfway across the ring and cantering straight up the middle. Tori realized what she was going to do just before it happened.

_She's jumping_.

"JADE!" Beck and Mason both roared. Mason started running, while Beck kicked his horse into action so suddenly Cat's horse spooked and she fell with a cry. It was too late; Jade's horse was slowing, gathering, leaping into the air and leaving its rider behind in the process. Jade tumbled over the back of the saddle and onto the ground as the horse cleared the gate. Beck pulled up and jumped to the ground next to her.

"Holy crap, are you all right?"

She struggled into a sitting position, shaking her head. Mason slowed to a jog, standing just in front of her. "Nice try, although that did take guts, I'll give you that." He squatted down until he was eye level with her. "That was a pretty nice fall. Two more and you're a rider. Two more and a buck and you're a cowgirl. You got what it takes to make it that far?" She glared up at him wordlessly. "Then go get that horse. We still got riding to do." He offered a hand, but she scrambled up on her own.

"Don't touch me," she snapped at Beck as he tried to put an arm around her. She jerked the gate open and stalked after her horse, who was sauntering over to a patch of particularly green grass.

"Fine," Beck called after her, obviously wounded. She didn't respond. He stalked back over to his horse, pausing by Cat, who was still on the ground. "You okay?" he asked, his voice softening. She nodded shakily, and he helped her back up and onto her horse. He jumped up onto his own stallion, and it was like nothing had happened, except for the new tenseness in the air.

"That was an adventure," Mason said, rolling his eyes. "Let's start from the beginning. Trot off, everybody, and we'll work on that serpentine . . ."

Quite by chance, Tori looked over at Trina. She was looking at something in the distance, and there was something not quite right about her eyes. Something red and puffy and . . . "Have you been _crying_?" Tori asked incredulously.

Trina whipped around to glare at her, grimacing with each bump of the trot. "Never speak of it," she said through gritted teeth, and jabbed her heels into the horse's side until she was at the other end of the ring.

Tori looked over at André. "Has _everyone_ here lost their mind?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "Not you, I think."

"Yeah," she muttered, pulling her horse into a single-file line behind Robbie. "Let's hope it stays that way."

**. . .**

**Please, please, PLEASE review! I've got ideas, but I really wanna hear what YOU think because I'm just a sweetheart like that ;) PLEEEASE!**


	6. Crash

**Thanks to This Is a Creative Name for the ending idea of the chapter - I really appreciate it! Pleease review! This is about to get interesting...**

Crash

Three weeks had passed, and after a few more falls, twelve escape attempts by Jade, and an incident involving a crazed foal that only Mason, Bethany and Cat could control, they were finally starting to get the hang of this. After their morning duties and lunch, they would slip into the barn, tack up quickly and (eventually) efficiently, and head out. Soon enough they all had claimed "their" horses: Cat had a palomino cob named Sully, André claimed Gray Lady, Robbie a blue roan named Blue Boy, Jade a black stallion named Falcon, Beck a dun gelding named Stetson, and Tori a chestnut mare, Perrier. Trina just kept switching around, as none of them ever seemed to behave around her. Surprise, surprise.

Bethany, on the other hand, seemed to be having nothing but bad luck ever since they got there. Her saddle rack fell cleanly off the wall when she tried to hang her saddle. Her horse randomly spooked all the time, her stirrups were lopsided, and once her horse just refused to move, standing glassy-eyed and dumb in its stall. Mason was starting to get pretty frustrated, but she just shrugged it off and kept going. With each mishap, Robbie was there, heaving the saddle off the ground, fumbling feebly with the stirrup leather, yanking in vain at the vacant horse's reins. Frankly, these only served to show the utter lack of upper body strength in the boy, but Bethany seemed to find it charming nonetheless.

Jade and Beck, on the other hand, seemed to be much more strained than the rest of them. Jade was even tenser than usual, and after the eleventh or so escape attempt – for someone who seemed so hell-bent on getting out of there, she'd taken to riding like a swan to water – she'd made it a habit to tack up Falcon at the speed of light and disappear into the wide expanse of wilderness beyond the farm, only visible in flashes between trees and across fields. Usually galloping. It was a good thing she had such a strong horse. Once, when Mason walked into the barn where she and Beck were making a tentative attempt at conversation – a lost art between them at this point – Jade had suddenly grabbed Beck by the throat and begun a long make-out session that only ended five minutes after Mason had left. After that, she started going before breakfast, too.

Tori was beginning to seriously fear for her sanity.

Jade was tacking up at five-fifteen it the morning, slapping Falcon lightly when he protested at waking up so early. She needed to get out. Last night's dream had been . . . unsettling, to say the least. She needed to clear her head.

"Hey, West girl."

Oh, _no_.

She spun around, already shooting daggers from her eyes. "What're you doing here this early?"

Mason looked mildly surprised at her viciousness. "I could ask you the same question. Wouldn't have pegged any of y'all for morning people, least of all you."

"Sorry to disappoint, now get out."

"Are you avoiding me, Jade?"

The question came so unexpectedly it froze her hostility for a split second. It thawed quickly, though. "What? You? Are you actually that conceited?"

He nodded as though conceding the point. "You're right, of course. I must be imagining you slipping out of the room whenever I come in, or not _ever_ looking me in the eye, or not answering any time I talk to you. Or planting one on Beck. He's a great guy, but Jade, are you trying to convince me that you have a boyfriend . . . or yourself?"

Boiling, bubbling fury built up in Jade, almost comforting in its familiarity. It made her feel alive again, awake after a night of fitful sleep. "You really are that full of yourself. I can't believe this. Get out." She tried to turn back around and keep going as if nothing had happened, but his eyes on her back made her fingers fumble until she had to turn around again. "Look, will you just _screw off_?"

He took three slow, long steps toward her. Just three. That was all it took to put him in between her and the horse, so close he was almost touching her. His eyes were green, greenish hazel. With some blue, too. And were those flecks of gold?

"Is that what you want? For me to leave?" His face was a lot closer than usual. And getting closer. She could almost feel his shirt against hers now.

She jerked away and slapped him across the face. Hard. The resounding _crack_ echoed through the stall, making Falcon jerk sharply to the side. Mason's head snapped against his shoulder with the blow, and for a moment he didn't move. A hot, harsh feeling way too close to shame prickled at her gut, but she pushed it down and turned back to her saddle. There was a tangle of silence, all sharp edges and blurred lines.

"Look, I –"

"It's all right," he said steadily, and she could feel his Technicolor eyes on her back. "I get it." He started backing out, the clunk of his boots growing softer and softer. "Don't beat yourself up about it, all right? Have a nice ride." And he was gone.

_Beat myself up about what?_ Jade wanted to ask. But deep down, she knew she was afraid of the answer.

Screw this. She let the still unfastened girth drop to the ground, and then the saddle, and then the blanket under it. She jerked Falcon out to the mounting block and leaped, landing on his exposed back with a huff. He was bonier than she expected, but couldn't bring herself to care as she thundered away.

. . .

"That's it! That's it exactly! Perfect!"

Tori sat down in the saddle and pulled Perrier to a stop, beaming. After a good two weeks, she'd finally mastered the canter. She loved the smoothness of it, and how she could feel each of Perrier's muscles stretching and pulling beneath her. Even if her muscles paid for it afterwards.

"That was great," André said sincerely; the cherry on top. She almost blushed.

Mason cast an eye up at the sky, which was swirling with heavy gray clouds. "Sorry, y'all, but we might have to cut this lesson a little short. Looks like there's a storm coming in."

Cat pouted. "Aww, but I _like_ rain. It's like the sky is leaking!" A single fat drop plummeted and smacked her squarely on top of the head. Cue mood swing. "_Hey!_" She swiveled around in her seat, glaring up to the sky. "Put a patch in it, I don't wanna get wet!"

Mason burst out laughing. "It's not the rain I'm worried about, it's the thunder. And this one looks like it's gonna be a big one. The horses usually aren't themselves around thunder, and I don't want to take any chances." More drops fell, like a faucet slowly turning on. "Come on, looks like y'all're gonna have an easy day."

"But what will the horses do?" Cat asked fretfully.

"Most likely mosey down to those trees and try to hide from the storm. They'll be fine." It was now raining hard enough that a fine stream of water was running off his hat beside his face. "Let's get a move on."

He opened the gate and they filed out, blinking as the water splashed in their eyes and shivering slightly at the icy drops. Tori had never seen a storm form so fast – the sprinkles had opened into a steady shower that showed no sign of ending any time before next week. She'd never been so happy to arrive inside the barn.

They dismounted, leading the horses into their stalls. Tori was still shivering slightly. Everyone always said she shivered ridiculously easily.

"You look cold," André muttered as he passed with Gray Lady, stretching out a hand and rubbing across her shoulder blades briefly. She froze, heat blooming in her cheeks. But as soon as it happened it was over, and she had to keep walking and act like nothing had happened.

The first rumble of thunder echoed overhead, just a whisper, really. The change in the horses was marked; they stiffened, their eyes widening and their heads jerking up. André managed to soothe Lady, but most of the others had trouble, especially when the first fork of lightning came along.

"I told y'all, they don't like this," Mason said, shaking his head. "The best thing you can do is just get 'em out in the pasture and let 'em make a run for it."

Cat, who would have performed triple-bypass surgery with a ballpoint pen if she was told it was the best thing for Sully, was the first one finished, slipping a halter over his ears and fairly dragging him to the opposite end of the barn, where the gate to the pasture stood slightly ajar. "Good luck! Don't be scared! I'll find you when it's over!" she cried as she undid the halter and let him free.

"You do realize you'll probably see him again in what, like, three hours tops?" demanded Trina irritably, who was personally hoping for a flood of Noah's Ark proportions to wipe out this miserable place. She pulled today's mount, Loretta, to the gate and slapped her hindquarters none too affectionately as she trotted leisurely out to join Sully. "Too soon, if you ask me."

"What are we gonna do until then?" Beck asked, watching Stetson disappear among the trees.

Mason winked. "Aunt Laurie's got a philosophy: no matter how warm the rain, hot chocolate makes any rainy day a little easier. We've got Pictionary up in the Big House."

Robbie snorted. "That's what cowboys do on rainy days?"

Mason looked him up and down. "Man, I know it's been nearly a month, but y'all aren't anywhere _near_ cowboys yet."

As Bethany laughed, thunder growled and Robbie sputtered, Tori frowned. "Hey . . . where's Jade?"

Smiles died as they all looked around. Mason looked more serious than Tori had ever seen him. "She headed out this morning on Falcon, maybe three hours or so ago."

Tori looked at him expectantly. "So . . . ? Shouldn't we go find her?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's probably one of the most skilled riders of y'all."

"But the horses aren't themselves," Tori insisted. "What if Falcon spooks? Or – or she gets zapped by lightning?"

Mason opened his mouth – most likely to deny or protest – but the clap of thunder overhead was loud enough to cause all of them to jump. It was coming on fast. The rain was absolutely driving down, but Mason still seemed weirdly hesitant to go after her.

She knew there was a reason she hadn't let Perrier go yet.

She stalked back into her stall, yanking the bridle back over the mare's ears. André was right behind her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going after Jade, of course. She could get really hurt." No time to bother with a saddle. Mason had said he might introduce them to bareback soon, anyway. Might as well get a head start.

"Oh no, you're not." He made a lunge for the reins, but she dodged and led an obliging Perrier over to the mounting block. She made it on in one jump, and nearly went right over the other side. It was a totally different feel, like riding a roller coaster with no harness. Before, she really could only fall either left or right. Now she was exposed in all directions, sliding forwards and backwards and side to side like a bar of soap. Cat and Robbie watched, wide-eyed and speechless. Trina was gaping like a landed fish. Beck made a grab for the reins, just like André, but she managed to avoid him.

"Tori, this is dangerous," Mason warned mildly. He was looking at her like he'd never really seen her before. "And let's face it, I've never seen Jade do one nice thing to you the entire time you've been here."

"It's her choice," said Bethany softly.

It was true – her patches of exposed scalp still hurt to the touch. But then she thought of her in a heap on the sandy arena, pictured the same thing only in the woods, soaking wet and all alone. She really didn't have a choice. "She's not mean enough to get killed because she didn't know her horse was scared of thunder." And she jabbed one heel into Perrier's flank and wheeled for the barn door. A few seconds later, she heard hooves over the hiss of rain and roar of thunder in her ears. She looked back. André was following her.

The journey into the woods was the wildest ride she'd had yet, and it was all she could do to stay seated. Mud was everywhere, and Perrier was sliding rather than cantering. She dug her fingers into the thick mane and clung frantically, her heart swooping into her stomach every time a hoof slipped or stumbled. She was yelling, too, shouting indiscriminately at the top of her lungs, drowning out all sounds but the thunder overhead and the shouts behind her.

"JADE! Jade, where are you? Come on, come ON! JADE!"

"TORI! TORI IF YOU DIE OUT HERE I'M GONNA KILL YOU! COME BACK HERE! TOOOOORRRIIIII!"

On and on they ran. Swiping rainwater out of her eyes and slinging strands of hair away from her face, she tried to make sense of the trails, but they were dissolving into disjointed, muddy puddles before her eyes and would soon be unrecognizable. But this was Jade they were talking about: Jade, defiant to the end. Only one made sense: no trail at all.

The panic in André's voice spiked as she darted into uncharted trees – "ARE YOU _SUICIDAL_?" – but he followed nonetheless. She didn't slip as badly here, but the water fell even harder, cascading in buckets from the leaves above. She was shivering hard now, her fingers clutching mane and rein until they were almost numb.

And then, maybe ten swells of thunder later, she saw it: a black dot, weaving in and out of the trees ahead of them. "JADE!"

The shape faltered, and she spurred the weary Perrier on to a full-out gallop, scrambling awkwardly through the tangle of muddy roots and underbrush. Soon she could see Jade, soaked to the bone and riding bareback too, her face white and her eyes wide.

"Vega, what are you _doing_?" she yelled over the downpour.

Tori's legs felt like they were about to fall off – she almost wished they would, they hurt so bad. "Looking for you! Why are you out here in a storm?"

Falcon was obviously panicked; he pawed the ground and chomped his bit, eyes rolling. "I don't know!" Jade's frantic reply was almost a wail. "I got out here and then the rain started and I couldn't find the trail again – they all look the same!"

"There you are!" André had pulled up beside them, panting slightly. He had eyes only for Tori – very murderous eyes, at that. "Of all the stupid, crazy, suicidal –"

"I know the way back, just follow me!" Tori called to Jade.

"But – why?"

What the heck? "I'm sorry, do you want to wander around out here till we all get struck by lightning?"

"I mean why did you come after me?" Jade seemed absolutely bewildered, even while shouting at the top of her lungs. "You hate me!"

"No, _you_ hate _me_ and that doesn't mean I want you to die!" Tori was getting tired of explaining this. "Now can we please just get out of –?"

_CRASH_.

Jade yelped. André ducked. The horses reeled, and for a moment all of them were utterly blind and deaf in the wake of the monstrous lightning that had shaken the sky. Tori didn't make a sound. She was crumpled at the foot of a tree, her horse still whinnying and bucking slightly in terror.

"TORI!" André hit the ground hard and ran, sinking to his knees beside her. For a moment, fear was in control, and he was shaking her shoulders, shouting her name, begging her to wake up. Incredibly, it was Jade who saved the day; she grabbed all three horses' reins in one hand and knelt beside him.

"Don't move her!" she barked, reaching down two fingers to check her pulse. It was steady and strong, and it was only a few agonizing, painful seconds before her eyes cracked open.

"Mm-hmm . . . André?"

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm here," he said soothingly, his face so bloodless it was about the color of cardboard. But Tori shook her head, her eyes closing again, moaning.

"André! André, it hurts!"

"Get her up on the horse," Jade muttered, standing.

"But you said not to –"

"Well, she can't stay here!" she snapped, and then closed her eyes briefly. "Come on. Now."

With a leg up from Jade, André straddled Lady, and then they both got hauled her up to rest across his chest. Jade ripped Perrier's bridle off and sent her into the woods, then used a nearby tree to vault onto Falcon. "Ride," she ordered tersely, glancing at Tori, "but try to keep her head steady."

They made it to the Big House without incident, but the looks on her friends' faces when she opened the door for André to carry Tori in nearly sent Jade buckling to the floor with guilt. But she was Jade: she was supposed to be strong. So she watched numbly as they put Tori in the sickbay, as Trina tearfully called her parents and Laurie called a doctor. "Don't think it's nothing serious," she said grimly, "but I don't envy her when she wakes up, that's for sure." André nodded, not taking his eyes off Tori's face. He hadn't moved since they'd put her down.

Mason ordered Cat to get some towels and called Beck to come with him, but paused when he saw Jade's face. "Hey," he said quietly. "Don't look like that."

Beck looked up, came over, and wordlessly put an arm around her shoulders. She remained rigid in his arms, biting her lip. "It's my fault," she said bluntly, hating herself. "She was looking for me."

"Nah." For once, Mason looked troubled. "If it's anyone's, it's my fault. This morning, I shouldn't have made you . . . I shouldn't have let you go out there."

It was an apology – the best she was going to get in front of her boyfriend – and a peace offering, and a way out of this horrible, crushing guilt. She nodded, still not relaxing.

She wasn't going to relax until she got the chance to thank Tori. Or say she was sorry.


	7. Pow

Pow

Tori woke up maybe ten minutes later, and was declared to have a grade three concussion by the doctor who made the house call. He said the blackout was most likely just a sign of shock rather than serious brain injury, and that Tori's claim of having no recollection of the actual fall was typical. She was confined to bed for about a week, and no riding for the better part of two. But the only part most of them heard was that she was okay and would be fine by the end of the two weeks. Laurie had broken out the sodas, popcorn, and even some brownies she said she was saving for a special occasion, and soon enough everyone was having a full-blown party upstairs.

Except for Trina.

She was out in the barn – of her own volition, no less. The cabins reminded her too much of Tori, and besides, the barn pretty well matched her mood right now: dirty, smelly, and full of horse dung. She'd come out because the shame, the shame that while everyone else was celebrating her sister's good health, she was out here.

Brooding.

She couldn't help it. This was just so stinking unfair. She comes out here and her little sister has the nerve to tag along. What, stealing her number one spot at Hollywood Arts wasn't good enough? She had to prove that she was Little Miss Hero, riding out to save Jade from the big bad lightning storm too? And then there was her. Trina. Still unpopular, still bumbling, still incompetent. It wasn't her fault that the horses didn't like her. It wasn't her fault she had trouble with this stuff. She was just . . . Trina. An uptown girl who flourished in Fellanie Jeans and Fezzini Boots. And that was okay . . . right?

Enough on that. There was another reason she was here. She needed to get this in place before anyone –

"There you are."

She looked around frantically, and then for lack of anything else, stuffed it down her bra before turning around. Robbie, in his red plaid shirt and way too big cowboy hat, was standing in the front of the barn, a little wet and a little concerned. Crap. "I came to tell you the rain stopped – what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," she said airily. The stupid thing was about to fall out. She wiggled her bra inconspicuously before responding. "Why'd you come? I would've been back up there in a minute."

He hesitated. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed to take Tori's fall pretty hard, and – _there's a snake up your shirt!_"

"Robbie, no –" she started, but he was already yanking the snake from the bottom of her shirt, throwing it on the ground and pulling her to the side. He grabbed a shovel from a rack nearby and slammed it into the snake once, twice, three times. The bits of snake bounced around pitifully, and he paused in the middle of the fourth swing.

"What the . . . ? Trina?" As Trina stood frozen, he reached down and picked up the head. He squeezed. The eyes popped. The entire thing was rubber. He turned to her wide-eyed. "Why was this down your _shirt_? And . . . what were you doing with it?"

"None of your business," Trina snapped, but Robbie was moving past her. In a remarkable display of brains for him, he was placing his boots over her footprints, tracing back her steps until he arrived at the corner of Bethany's horse's stall. "Were you _putting that there_?"

"Shut up," she said weakly, but the pieces were tumbling neatly into place. He was shaking his head, mouth gaping.

"The messed-up saddle? The stirrup leather? The _tranquilized horse_?"

"Robbie –"

"It was all you! Why? Why would you do that?"

"The same reason you ditched Rex," she spat finally, looking around frantically for a way out. This could not be happening, it couldn't . . .

"Rex?" Robbie's brow clouded over. "What about Rex?"

"I haven't seen him since the first day you met _her_," she snarled, her fingers itching and her hands clenching. She had to calm down. The last thing she needed was someone to find out she was out of control and get her a stupid chill pill. She forced a deep breath down her lungs, trying to think soothing thoughts. It wasn't really working. At all.

"Her?" Comprehension dawned. "You think – you think I ditched Rex because of _Bethany_?"

"Why else?" she said bitterly. Good old Robbie, a dork till the end, but never changing. She could always count on that, even if it drove her _crazy_. Until some blue-eyed blonde batted her eyelashes at him.

"No, no, Trina, that's not it at all," he said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "I – I don't really know why I don't need Rex here. It's just . . . peaceful out here. Not as stressful. I don't need him to keep me on track."

"Oh." Trina had never heard him so truthful before. It put her off-balance, on the defense, terrified he would take that next step.

"Wait a minute." _Oh, here it comes_. The wheels were in motion; he was shaking his head, holding up a finger with a slight smile. "You're _jealous_!"

"Am not!" she snarled, trying not to look at the chopped-up snake bits.

He was smiling in earnest now. "Oh, you totally are! Is that why you were doing all this to her? Did you want her to look stupid in front of me?"

"I wanted her to take a hint and keep her paws off _you_!" she yelled – and planted one on his lips hard.

They stood there like that for a minute, and then Trina pulled away briskly, glaring at him as if daring him to say anything. He blinked slowly. And then again.

"That wasn't a stage kiss, right?"

_Pow._

Trina threw up her hands in disgust. "_I can't believe you!_ Who _asks_ a girl that?"

Robbie staggered, clutching his mouth where she'd punched him. "Trina, wait –"

"Stay away from me, Robbie Shapiro! I don't know what I saw in you!" She turned on heel and stormed out of the barn, out toward the pasture, still yelling over her shoulder.

"Trina! Trina, baby, come back!"

He did a little happy dance all to himself before chasing her.

. . .

Beck needed a break. Tori had insisted that everyone go back to their normal lives the very next day, but everyone was still acting edgy and the world was still wet; a constant reminder of what had happened to Tori. Jade was especially bad, still awkward and waspish from bumbling through an apology to Tori. Still, she had apologized. Beck never thought he'd see the day. But that was about as much as he could take this week. He wanted to just walk out into the fields and never come back.

A giggle broke his reverie, and he looked over into the next paddock. Cat was standing in the center of a herd of gangly-legged foals, milling around her like overeager puppies. Cat's attention span was seriously suffering, frantically looking from foal to foal and offering soothing words, laughter, a soft caress on the nose. She was glowing, utterly content and carefree. Somewhere along the way, Beck ended up against the railing to watch.

It didn't take long for Cat to notice he was there. "Oh! Hey Beck!"

He waved. "Having fun?"

"Oh, yeah!" she squealed, pointing to a little buckskin colt. "He's almost ready to be barn-trained. And little Jasmine is getting weaned, so the poor thing is pining for her mommy, which means I get to make her feel better!"

He smiled with genuine warmth for the first time in a while. "Sounds like a great time."

"Here," she said, darting for the gate and sliding it open easily. "Come see for yourself."

The smile was gone instantly. "Wait – what? Oh, no, no, no, I'm no good with babies or animals, Cat, so I really don't think baby animals are gonna –"

"Don't be ridiculous," Cat said brightly, seizing him by the hand and dragging him inside. "My babies love everyone."

That didn't seem to be the case, at first; Beck stood awkwardly as the foals' heads jerked up, their eyes widening, their spindly legs skittering away until there was a wide berth around him. Cat was undeterred. "Here, try Maple. She usually likes people in general."

She took his wrist and held his hand up to a brown yearling, the biggest of the herd. Its ears jerked up, and Beck took an automatic step back at the same time it did.

"It's okay," Cat said, and Beck couldn't tell if she was talking to him or the filly. "You're safe here." Her fingers tightened around his wrist, and she held out his hand, palm up, until Maple sniffed it hesitantly. He forced himself to breathe normally, although Cat's bright-eyed assurance helped allay some of the tension.

Slowly, tentatively, the filly stretched out its muzzle to rub against Beck's fingers. It felt like the smoothest of suede, only suede wasn't alive, its breath tickling your palm. He reached up carefully and smoothed down the velvet nose, then stroked the hollow over its eye. It shook a little, like a dog after a good pet.

"See?" Cat said smugly. "My babies behave."

"I can tell." Beck offered up a small smile. "You're really good with them, Cat."

Her voice turned shy, and then almost reverent. "Thanks. But really, aren't they beautiful?"

"Yeah." His smile got a little bigger. "Yeah, I think so."

Up in the Big House, a curtain twitched. But they were lost in the simple, beautiful world of these innocent little foals.

**. . .**

**Sorry, kind of a bridge chapter, but please review!**


	8. Boom

Boom

"Hey, West girl."

Jade looked up, startled. She hadn't heard anyone coming. Seeing Mason, however, made her grit her teeth and continue to yank at Gray Lady's girth. "What?"

The look on his face was nothing short of mischievous. "You consider yourself a 'bad girl', right?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"On where you're going with this," she snapped guardedly.

He chuckled. "Fair enough. How would you feel about sneaking out to a party tonight?"

She froze. "You're kidding."

"Nope. It's a bunch of my friends' first day of summer, so they're celebrating, but I have no one to go with."

"So you decide to ask the girl with the extremely jealous boyfriend? Smart guy."

Mason took an exaggerated look around. "If he's as jealous as you say, where is he now?"

She thought of the look on Beck's face as he watched Cat pet the foals and flushed scarlet. He seemed to take pity on her.

"Look, I know you took Tori falling pretty hard, and I know you've been feeling pretty guilty about it even though it wasn't your fault, so I figured this might cheer you up, that's all."

Trying to appear as if his words had no effect on her whatsoever, she snapped the girth into place and began messing with the stirrup leather. "And if we happen to get caught on the way out?"

He snorted. "Don't tell me Jade West is worried."

"I'm not!"

"So you're in?"

She only hesitated for a moment. "Sure. I'm in."

His face split into a broad grin. "Great. Meet you at my truck behind the barn at, shall we say, eight o'clock?"

"I'll be there," she said coolly, and led Falcon to the mounting block. Her jump into the saddle mercifully went without a hitch, and she managed to guide him out the barn door with a stone face and steady hands. Still, she couldn't resist a swift peek back.

He was still standing there, scuffing a boot against the dirt. He met her eyes. He was still smiling.

She blushed and trotted off.

. . .

"_You can be my tan-legged Juliet, I'll be your redneck Romeo. Oh baby, you can find me in the back of a jacked-up tailgate, sitting 'round watchin' all these pretty things get down in that Georgia clay . . ._"

The party was loud, but not the kind of stifling, pounding loud Jade was used to. This was outdoor loud, with the _boom_ of a rusty red pickup's stereo cutting through the nearby trees and the clamor of voices echoing through the darkness. The only light was from the headlights of tricked-out trucks and a roaring bonfire in the center of the clearing. Unfamiliar music blared, something like a mix of rock and country. Girls in cowboy boots, cutoff jeans, and their boyfriend's hats writhed to the music, tanned skin glowing bronze in the orange firelight.

With her porcelain skin, smoky makeup, ripped-up black sweater and chipped black nail polish, Jade had never felt so utterly out-of-place.

Mason placed a steady hand in the small of her back. "Don't worry about it," he murmured in her ear. "You look gorgeous."

She jerked her back away from the sparks in his touch and glared.

"Hey, Mason! You made it!" A dark-haired boy with a too-big hat darted over, whooping. "Some party, huh? I told you it'd be great!" His smile died a little when he saw Jade. "Who's _she_?"

"Alex," Mason said, clapping his free hand on his shoulder, "this is Jade West. Jade, this is Alex Portman, my best friend."

Jade blinked. For some idiotic reason, she'd never really imagined Mason having a life outside Cloud Valley. Stupid, looking back, but still . . .

Alex now looked avidly curious. "Oh, so _you're_ the girl Mason can't shut up about!" Jade looked up at Mason sharply. He grimaced, studying the dirt. Was he actually . . . _embarrassed_?

"Anyway, Jade's from LA," he said quickly, and Alex's eyebrows shot up.

"All right, a Hollywood chick. Know any celebrities?"

She snorted. "Alyssa Vaunn," she admitted ruefully. Beck had introduced them by the way of apology after she dumped him for two days out of sheer jealousy.

"Ah, sweet. Are you two close?"

She might as well go all-out. "Oh yeah, we've been friends for, like, ever."

Alex swallowed it whole, but Mason shot her a shameless "liar, liar" look. She raised her eyebrows innocently, and he rolled his eyes.

"Come on, there's Cokes over there and some other folks I want you to meet."

It wasn't actually so bad, once she fell into step. The people were a lot like Hollywood Arts kids; wary around strangers, but friendly enough all the same. Mason kept a hand on her back the entire time, and she felt herself start to unwind, even sway a little to the sound of steel guitars and a country fiddles. He'd mainly introduced her to guys, but there was a girl over there who might talk to her . . .

"Hey, Hollywood girl!"

Alex was back, this time with a few friends. Jade tensed instinctively, but their faces weren't threatening, and they were all beanpoles anyway, so she forced herself to relax a bit.

"We heard you went to some special performer's school or something," one of them said keenly.

"That's right, Hollywood Arts."

"So do you dance?" Alex asked eagerly.

A slow, genuine smile unfolded across Jade's lips. _Did she dance?_ Time for a little show all of her own.

She marched over to the boom box and flipped the dial, ignoring the half-dozen protests. She found her favorite station; Beyoncé's latest hit was just ending. Perfect.

She walked until she was standing in the center of the makeshift dance floor, all eyes on her. She tilted her head to the side as the next song came on, finding the rhythm, catching the beat. She swayed her hips experimentally, a sexy little smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. And she danced.

"_Are you listening? Hear me talk, hear me sing . . ._"

Ahh, _yes_. This felt _good_. This was what West girls were born to do. Like her mother, veteran prima ballerina of the New York ballet company. Like her sister Liz, at Julliard on interpretive dance scholarship. Like her, at Hollywood Arts. Like her now.

Quick, tight movements, hips swiveling, body rolling, hair flying back. Her hands swirled around her, raised above her head, snapping to the sides, everywhere, each movement perfect and precise. She was smiling, really and truly smiling at the fierce joy brought on not just by the whoops and cheers, but the easy grace of the movements and the feeling of sharp breaths pounding in her lungs. This was her life, her one real joy.

Dancing.

"_So what I'm gonna do now is Freak the Freak Out – hey!_"

Other people were joining in, one by one, until she had started a bona fide cowboy mosh pit. Eventually she couldn't even hear the music over the smothering bodies. She struggled out, pushing and shoving, until a hand seized hers and pulled her free.

"Jade, that was incredible! I had no idea you could dance like that!"

It was the most excited she'd ever seen him. "Thanks," she muttered, feeling inexplicably shy. She studied her feet. _Shy? Seriously?_ She could count on one hand the times she'd felt shy since third grade.

"Seriously, how did you learn to do that?"

She shrugged. "It's just something I've always loved," she said quietly, looking everywhere but his eye. "And it's one of the requirements of Hollywood Arts, anyway."

"Well, you're a natural."

The song ended, and somebody flipped the station back to the original country. This new song was slower, sweeter, and soon couples were forming everywhere. Mason held out his hand. "Shall we?" She bit her lip and nodded, and he put his hands on her waist as she clasped her fingers behind his neck.

"_Don't move, baby, don't move. Ah, look at you. I just wanna take this in, the moonlight dancing off your skin . . ._"

"So why are you the only one here who speaks in a Southern accent?" she asked finally. It had been bugging her for a while.

"'Cause they've been in California all their lives," he replied easily, swinging her around gently so he could see her face in the firelight. "I just moved here from Georgia a little while ago."

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Mom and Dad weren't getting along. At all. I figured it was 'bout time for me and Beth to split. Called up Aunt Laurie on her brand-new ranch. She sent her pickup for us the next day."

"Oh." Jade wasn't really sure what to say. "Sorry."

"It's all right." He reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I like it here."

"Yeah," she admitted, the smallest of smiles lighting her face. "Yeah, me too."

"_This could be one of those memories we wanna hold on to, cling to, one we can't forget. Baby, this could be our last first kiss, the door to forever. What if this was that moment? That chance worth taking? History in the Making . . ._"

. . .

Beck couldn't sleep. He'd been tossing and turning for hours, wincing when his overworked legs protested. Finally, when the moon was already on its way down, he couldn't stand it anymore. Maybe some fresh air would do him some good. Making sure Robbie and André were sound asleep, he slipped down from his bunk and padded barefoot out the door.

He knew he wasn't strictly supposed to be outside, but the night air caressing his cheeks felt amazing. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply. His grandma used to tell him that night breezes could blow back precious memories of the day before. When Beck listened, he heard the faint _clip-clop_ of tiny hooves and the ghost of a blissful giggle.

And the rumble of a truck on gravel.

He dove for shelter of any kind, which ended up being the cabin itself. Ducking behind it, he peeked out, cursing his idiocy. He was two feet from the door, and he'd chosen to hide in the bushes? Great. Now he'd have to wait for them to leave before he went back to bed.

Headlights swung around the corner, dimmed as much as possible. Beck squinted as the engine cut off and two figures climbed out. What was Mason doing out at this time of night? And was that with him –?

Not possible.

But it was.

"See?" Mason said, coming around to her side of the truck. "There and back, totally safe. Told you."

"Yeah, yeah," Jade muttered, slamming her door behind her. She turned to find Mason much, much too close for Beck's taste and froze like a deer in the headlights. Beck was frozen too, blood roaring in his ears.

Mason touched her arm, tilting her chin up with the other hand. She still didn't move, not even when he lowered his lips to touch hers.

A string of firecrackers exploded in Beck's gut. He wanted to _tear_ Mason's _head off_. But he didn't move. He'd be a gentleman and save that pleasure for Jade.

Except that when Mason broke away after exactly six never-ending seconds, Jade's lips clung on, actually following him until she was stretched up on her tiptoes. "No," Mason murmured gently, and she instantly dropped back down, already engulfed in awkward silence.

"Well, good night," she said finally, shyly.

"Good night," he said, and headed for the Big House. He only looked back once, when he was sure she wasn't watching, and his eyes kept Beck from tearing after him.

He really did love Jade. Honestly, who could blame him?

But Jade was supposed to love _Beck_.

The pain, the lies, the betrayal clawed up his throat, blinding him, making him almost physically ill. He didn't see Jade rest her head against the cool wood of the door and sigh before entering her cabin. He didn't see the streak of maroon behind the girl's cabin. He was running, running, sprinting into the woods, leaping over a fence, past horses and trees and fields, as far as his legs could carry him. Everything was spinning, the world narrowing down to red and revenge, red and revenge, until he tripped and fell to his knees and stayed there, unmoving, red and revenge spinning in his mind until dawn cracked the horizon.

When it did, he knew how to have both.

**. . .**

**Bum bum BUM! Sooo . . . ? You like? Opinions, people!**


	9. Slam

**Thanks to Dlwritingproduction's idea for Beck's revenge. Enjoy!**

**. . .**

Slam

Cat was perfectly content, despite her legs shaking with weariness. That was the fastest canter she'd ever gotten out of Sully, and even Mason who seemed unusually happy today said Sully looked totally cute when he was cantering like that. She'd worked with her babies and they were coming along fine; the filly Lily – everyone knew she was a girl, but just saying "filly Lily" made Cat smile – was totally able to go into a stall without panicking. She should bring her something, like maybe some apples, or carrots since Laurie served them every lunch and she really didn't like them –

When she opened the door to her cabin, she almost balked like one of her babies. Her bunk wasn't empty. But what was he doing here?

"Hey, Cat," he said, giving her one of his million-dollar smiles.

"Hi Beck," she said cautiously. Her legs were aching to sit down, but somehow sitting on a bed with Jade's boyfriend seemed . . . wrong. Slightly dangerous, too.

She was about to bolt. He could see it in her face. Maybe the reason the foals liked her so much was because she was a lot like them: strong but brittle, unsure of how to deal with things outside her black-and-white world. Like love.

Or revenge.

"Sorry, just waiting for Jade," he said casually, standing. Maybe he shouldn't have reminded her – or himself – of Jade, but he had to convince her everything was normal. Her legs were shaking, it had been a hard ride, she wanted to sit down but wouldn't with him on the bed. That was okay. She was just innocent, pure.

Unlike him.

Pushing his doubts aside, gestured for her to sit, glancing at the horrible fish clock on the wall. Every day without fail, she walked in five minutes after Cat. Two minutes, tops. "I saw you were working with the foals."

She brightened instantly, firm-footed once again. She described in detail each yearling, colt and filly's progress. She didn't seem to even notice him sinking down on the bed beside her. Until he tried to take her hands. "Wha-What are you doing?"

Crap. "Sorry," he muttered, his mind racing. "You just looked so tired . . ."

She bit her lip, looking at him like he was a wild mustang who could snap at any moment. She balled her fists loosely in his, but didn't pull completely away, which he took as a good sign. Moving right along. "Are you sore from riding?"

She nodded slowly. "Um, a little."

"Here – turn around." She did carefully, and he slid his hands up over her shoulders, and under his outspread palms she seemed impossibly small and delicate. He traced her shoulder blades with the balls of his thumbs. He could actually feel her heartbeat through her shirt, fluttering like a trapped bird. He pressed down, gently but firmly, working her muscles and smoothing red hair aside. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and something about her surrender gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. Fuzzy, almost, making it hard to think.

He dug into the soft hollow between her shoulders and her spine, and a soft groan escaped from her lips. His blood raced, and his fingers hesitated. She must have felt it, because she twisted around suddenly. "No, Beck, we shouldn't be –"

"Shh," he murmured. They both froze, catching their breath. The liquid brown eyes seemed to catch him by the chest, and it was without any thought of Jade or revenge – or any thought at all, really – that he leaned forward and pressed his mouth into hers.

He kissed her with a hunger that surprised them both, and she surrendered instantly with a soft sound in the back of her throat. Her fingers twined around his throat, and he caught her by the hips, not caring that he could taste the dust of the horses on her lips or that he was probably no better off. Her eyelashes were so long they tickled his cheeks as he slid forward, her strawberry hair falling in a curtain over both their faces –

A ragged noise somewhere between a gasp and a scream made them break apart. Jade was standing in the doorway, for once her face devoid of any hostility. All that showed was confusion, shock, and a raw hurt that made Beck's stomach turn inside out. This was only right. This was revenge. It was what he wanted. Right?

Dead wrong.

"Jade," Cat cried, jumping up off the bed and already tearing up. "Jade, I'm so sorry!"

"It was my fault," Beck said quietly, standing up before Jade could turn her wrath on Cat. "She didn't want to."

Jade looked at him, eyes unreadable. "Why?"

A stirring of anger rippled under his roiling shame. "Why don't you ask Mason?" Comprehension brought a surge of red to her face. "On second thought, I think you already know."

"How _could_ you?" she hissed.

"How could you?" he shot back, clenching his fists. "Is he a better kisser than me, Jade? Is he hotter than me? Or are you so desperate you'll crawl after anyone in a cowboy hat?"

The slap, when it came, was expected.

"I hate you," she choked, mascara-clogged tears streaking down her face. "_I HATE YOU!_" And she ran from the cabin, sobbing. Beck was breathing like he'd run a marathon, trying and failing to settle the feelings churning inside him, threatening to turn him inside out.

The second slap was unexpected.

"Ow!" He stumbled back, clutching his cheek and staring. "Cat, what the heck?"

"How _could_ you?" she yelled back, brown eyes sparking and dainty pink nails clenched into fists. "How could you do that to me?"

"You?"

"You _used_ me!" Beck had never seen her so angry. "You totally just used me to get back at her!"

"But she –"

"Yeah, I saw them too, okay? I know what she did. But that didn't mean you had to do that to _me!_"

"You saw them?"

"I like stargazing, okay?" Now she was just mad. "Is there something _wrong_ with that?"

"Um . . . no."

"Good. My point is that I know she hurt you. But seriously? Did you have to hurt her back? Did you have to hurt _me_?"

"Cat –"

"NO! No you did NOT! Especially with the way I feel about you and everything!"

His head was swimming, his ears ringing with the weight of two slaps. "How you feel? What do you mean?"

"Just go away, Beck! GO AWAY!" And she fled after Jade. He heard the first faint sob just before the door shut with a slam. He was alone in a girl's cabin, a ten-fingered mark on his face, burning from head to toe with icy shame.

He had to get out of here. Had to find somewhere, someone who didn't hate everything about him. And that's when he knew who he needed. It always seemed to come back to her anyway. Maybe visiting another girl wasn't the best idea right now, but he wanted to talk to Tori.

He got up, for some inexplicable reason, made the sheets up nicely where he and Cat had been, as if erasing the scene of the crime would straighten out the tangle he'd woven himself into. And he slouched down the dirt road to the Big House, kicking up dust and avoiding the horses' accusatory stares.

. . .

Tori, despite being bedridden, was having a pretty good day. André had exercised both Gray lady and Perrier, so one less thing to worry about there. He'd brought up enough lunch for twenty people, satisfyingly deep-fat fried, and they'd munched and talked and laughed together. He seemed perfectly content to sit in an overstuffed chair by her bed and talk and play guitar and sing until she could walk again.

Well, that among other things. She'd never forget the feel of his lips on hers when she first came out of it.

He was giving her an encore, as her brain was a little fuzzy on the details, when she realized the door was open. She shoved him away instantly before realizing it was Beck, not Laurie. "Oh, hey Beck," she said as André sat back down, red-faced.

"Um . . . I wanted to talk to you," he muttered, looking everywhere but her. "But you can stay," he added as André made to leave.

Tori studied him. He didn't look too good. And – "Is that a _slap mark_?"

He took a deep breath. "Two, actually," he said tonelessly. "From Jade. And Cat."

"_Cat?_" Tori laughed nervously. "What did you do, make out with her boyfriend?" No answer. "Holy crap, Beck, what did you _do_?"

Another deep breath. "She hit me for kissing her to get back at Jade for kissing Mason."

Tori blinked twice. "Start at the beginning. Slowly."

He didn't know when he started crying, but once the tears started there was no going back.

**. . .**

**The plot thickens . . . what will happen next? Wish I knew ;) Come on, I need some readers' help! REVIEW!**


	10. Whinny

**AN: Sorry for the delay, I had writer's block and stress like you wouldn't believe and on top of all that, the site went beserk on my account and wouldn't let me on. Hope this is worth the wait!**

**...**

**W****hinn****y**

Jade stood, motionless, in front of the stall of the world's fattest horse. Stupid thing was so lucky. All it had to do was eat and be pampered by André and make sure the baby in its belly grew nice and strong. It probably hadn't seen the sire since she'd gotten pregnant. She didn't have to care if some pretty little filly caught its eye. She was just fine on her own.

Why couldn't Jade be like that?

It was like everything inside her had been trampled, then tangled into hopeless, dizzying knots. She couldn't get the image of the entwined Cat and Beck out of her head, but more than that, she felt _dirty_. Ashamed, like she'd witnessed something private that she shouldn't have. _So what? He's MY boyfriend. I had every right! He should be the one crawling like a worm!_

Except she couldn't get the phantom of Mason's lips off of hers.

As if sensing her traitorous thoughts, the mare's head jerked up, eyes wide. "I know, I know," Jade snapped, and then rubbed her temples with her hands. She was _talking_ to a _horse_. She'd cracked. She knew it. She'd cracked.

Except the horse wasn't looking at her. She was eyeing a nearby vacant stall with apprehension in her eyes. Jade's curiosity got the better of her. She picked up a shovel before kicking the door wide open.

It was a moment before Trina and Robbie realized they were being watched. "Oh – hey!" Trina yelled, shoving Robbie away from her. "How _dare_ you! Get off, jerk!" She slapped him soundly across the face and stormed off dramatically, not seeming to realize there were still traces of his makeup slashed across her face.

Robbie seemed a little too stunned to move until Jade rounded on him. "Was she just kissing you _voluntarily_?"

He started slightly, and then a big, sloppy grin spread across his lip gloss-stained mouth. "Oh, yeah."

"Well, what happened?" Jade demanded waspishly. "Did she fall off her horse? Bang her head? Go for Botox and get a lobotomy on accident?"

And for once, Robbie Shapiro was not even fazed. "Nope," he said cheerfully, brushing past her to run after Trina. "Whether she likes it or not, she fell in _love_!" He bolted out the door, calling Trina's name.

Jade kicked the stall door again. Of course. Even the dweebs were getting a happily ever after. So typical.

She needed a release, but she'd ridden and ridden all of yesterday – after she'd found them, of course – and it had done nothing but make her legs unbearably sore. So she did the next-best thing; she grabbed a curry comb from the tack box by the door and hurled it across the barn. It landed with a _thunk_ atop a pile of hay.

Jade nearly jumped out of her skin when the haystack said "Ouch!"

Her heart sank as a red-velvet head popped up. "Why'd you do that?" Cat asked, wounded.

"You think I wanna talk to _you_?" Jade snarled, and then she got a better look at her face. Cat's big brown eyes were rimmed heavily in red, and even as she watched her lip quivered and her shoulders trembled softly. She had an idea she wasn't the only one who had never gone back to the cabin last night.

"Jade," she wavered, sliding down from the haystack and coming to stand in front of her, "I'm _so_ –"

"Don't you dare say sorry!" Jade shouted, clenching her fists. She hadn't realized that no matter how tangled up emotions were, they could always explode. "Don't you dare tell me you're sorry! If you were sorry you wouldn't have done it!"

"All right!" Cat said, putting her hands over her ears like a child. "All right, I get it! I'm still _sorry_, Jade! I'm sorry you're hurt! I'm sorry he used me! I'm sorry I _let_ him use me! I'm so, so sorry I love him!"

They both froze. The horse whinnied suddenly, its sides heaving. They ignored it. "Care to run that last one by me again?" Jade asked through her teeth.

Cat tried to make a run for it. Jade swooped like a hawk, digging her nails into Cat's arm. "How long?" she hissed. Cat didn't answer, and she shook her roughly. "_How long?_"

"Awhile, okay?" she shouted, and then just as abruptly the fight went out of her and she admitted, "ages."

"Since before we were going out?"

"Way before." Cat's eyes were closed now, her voice curiously emotionless, as if she'd found a way to mentally remove herself from the situation. "We've known each other since preschool, you know."

No, she didn't know. How could she not have known? "What exactly happened in there?" she asked, dreading the answer. Cat didn't respond until she let go of her arm.

"He was waiting for me." Her voice was utterly blank. "I was tired. He was on my bed and wouldn't get off." A hint of a plea entered her voice. "I should have seen it coming, Jade. I should have known what he was going to do the second he tried for my hands. But I was just so tired . . . I wasn't thinking straight . . . he offered to rub my back, and I didn't stop him . . . and it happened." She opened her eyes, staring desperately at Jade. "I wanted to stop, I really did, but . . ."

"You couldn't." Now it was Jade who sounded dead.

"Yes," Cat said, looking away. The horse trumpeted again, now bathed in sweat. They ignored it again.

She'd heard this before. She'd lived this before. This was her and Mason, knowing what was coming, knowing it was wrong, and yet powerless to stop.

And she hadn't wanted to.

"I trusted you," Jade said flatly, deflecting. She didn't want to think about Mason. She didn't want to remember that last conversation, just after her world had turned upside-down.

Incredibly, Cat was starting to get mad. "I said I was sorry!"

"So that automatically means it didn't happen, does it?"

"I can only do so much," Cat snapped, "and that's more than you did to Beck after _Mason_!"

"Cat? Jade? What are you doing?"

Tori had appeared in the door, a little pale but otherwise fine. Cat looked over at her. Jade didn't move. "Tori! You're not supposed to be out of bed!"

"I don't think I'll drop dead any time soon, Cat," Tori said patiently. "I just wanted to make sure – Jade, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to kill her," Jade said steadily.

"Oh, like that's _my_ fault?" Cat cried, taking an instinctive step back. "You weren't exactly secret about it, were you? How could you get so mad at _him_?"

The horse made an odd strangled sound, and Tori skirted around the couple to touch her nose. Her eyes widened. "Have either of you been paying attention to her?"

"NO!" both Jade and Cat shouted. Without another word, Tori rushed forward, unlatched the stall, and dived inside, murmuring steady encouragement to the horse. Jade's attention never wavered.

"He cheated with my best friend," she snarled.

"And you cheated with someone who meant nothing to you," she shot back. "Unless . . ." Her eyes widened. "Do you love him, Jade? Or were you just using him to make Beck jealous? Have you even _talked_ to him since?"

"Of course I have!" Jade exploded, throwing her arms up. "You think he wasn't the first person I ran to after I found Beck with _you_? You think I didn't feel so guilty for dragging him into this? You think I _meant_ for this to happen?"

"What'd he say?" Cat's voice had dropped, and now only held curiosity, and a hint of understanding that Jade desperately wished wasn't there. Better to be screamed at than to be pitied.

"He said . . . He told me . . ." She didn't want to tell her. She didn't want to even think about it. But she started this mess. She owed it to Cat. "Choose," she said quietly. "He told me to choose."

There was a moment of silence, broken only by grunts from the horse's stall. "What'd you say to him?" Cat asked softly.

Jade shrugged ruefully. "Nothing. I didn't know what to say – I still don't." She couldn't get the look in his eyes out of her mind. He wanted her to choose him. It was plain as the dye in Cat's hair.

She didn't know what to do.

"He's right, you know." Cat was uncharacteristically intense, her eyes making it impossible for Jade to look away. "You can't have both. You're going to have to choose one of them."

Jade snorted feebly. "Gee, I wonder which one you want me to choose?"

"I'm not sure I want Beck after what he did to me," she said matter-of-factly. "And I've given up a lot over the years to make sure you guys are all happy, I can give a little more if I have to. But you can't just leave them both hanging. We've only got a week left. What are you going to do?"

"I'll tell you what she's going to do," Tori called irritably from the mare's stall before Jade could respond. "She's going to help me help this mare give birth while _you_, Cat, do something useful and go get André!"

Scary how fast Cat's mood could swing around. "Ooh, a baby, I love babies!" She whipped around and raced out the door, already calling for André even though he was probably all the way up at the Big House.

Jade stepped hesitantly into the stall. The mare was on its side, legs sprawled out, chest heaving and bathed in sweat. Tori was kneeling beside her, palm flat against her swollen side and her ear to her belly. "Hey," Jade said, feeling an awkwardness that was becoming way too familiar settling around her, "thanks."

Tori didn't even look at her. "No problem, but she is right, you know."

"I know," Jade said wearily.

"All right. Just as long as we're agreed on that." She sucked in her breath. "Holy _crap_, it's moving!"

And then André was there and Jade was in the corner, watching the mare totally relax in his capable hands as Tori did whatever she could to help. She watched Lori run over, slow, and then settle in to watch the two in a mixture of disbelief and pride. She watched Cat in the opposite corner, totally enraptured by this process of new life, stroking the mare's velvety nose and coo encouragements after particularly bad contractions. She watched, after four hours of urgent murmurs and hurried instructions, that final push, the gasp of breath, and the string-thin whinny of new life.

Cat cried. André kissed Tori.

Jade wondered if the only way to make something so freaking beautiful was to go through something so freaking painful.

**...**

**IDEA SUGGESTIONS NEEDED. This might be a spoiler, but I need original, inventive but not far-fetched ways of starting a barn fire! All ideas will be considered short of an alien invasion! Many thanks!**

**~AmbyrRose**


	11. Roar

**AN: So sorry about the delay, I've been having some personal stuff going on that's been rough on my creativity levels :P Tell me what you think - I couldn't decide on a good way to set the barn off, despite the many fantastic suggestions, so I kind of left it ambiguous. Thanks - enjoy!**

**R****oa****r**

It could have been the lantern Mason left out after sitting up all night, thinking of Jade.

It could have been the tractor fuel Robbie spilled trying to impress Trina.

It could have been the book of matches Beck dropped while daydreaming about torching Mason.

It could have been a faulty wire in the electrical system, which Alexander the Great himself might've wired.

It could have been one of Laurie's cigarettes, forever smoldering in an overflowing ashtray.

It could have been the storm, the second one in so many days, brewing directly over the barn.

It could've been any of those things. It could have been all of those things. At the end of the day, all that really mattered was Bethany's scream at four a.m.

"FIRE! _FIRE! _HELP!"

Beck was the first out of bed and into his boots in his cabin, André right behind him and Robbie struggling to pull on jeans over his "nightie-night boxers". They didn't say a word to each other; André sprinted for the Big House, where Tori still slept in the infirmary, and Robbie bawled for Trina. Beck simply stared, trying to reconcile what his eyes were telling his brain with the idyllic farm of that afternoon.

The barn was on fire, great monsters of flame roaring through the roof and walls. Even as he watched one of the rafters tumbled inward with a great crash, punching through even more wall. It was a miracle it was still standing, although it was hard to make out through the great billowing sheets of black smoke.

Beck lunged forward – to do what, he wasn't sure – but a hand caught his shoulder. "Are y'all crazy?" Bethany shouted in his ear.

"The horses –"

"We let them all out before dark, remember? They're fine!"

She was crying – no, it was raining – no, both, tears spilling down her cheeks to mingle with the raindrops smeared across her face. By now the girls had spilled out of their cabin, wide-eyed and bushy-haired. Jade still had her jeans on, the hollows under her eyes worsened by the fire's shadowy light. Trina was shaking violently, her teeth chattering as if with cold. Her eyes skimmed over the group, unrecognizing, and then suddenly snapped back to focus on Robbie, by the far end of the cabin.

"Don't worry, baby, I'm coming!" he called heroically.

He ran to her. And tripped flat on his face two feet away.

Trina rolled her eyes. "My hero."

And she passed out cold on the ground.

André and Tori arrived, hand-in-hand, as Robbie struggled to his knees and attempted to revive her. "Where's Laurie?" Beck demanded as Tori stepped lightly over her sister's stomach.

"In the Big House, calling the fire department," André called over the inferno. "But this place is in the middle of nowhere, it might take a while."

"We should probably find somewhere a little safer –"

He was cut off by a scream of absolute agony.

Cat had arrived on the scene, eyes so huge the fire was clearly reflected in her eyes. Her mouth stretched wide as she screamed again, an almost animal sound of utter horror that rose over the snaps and crackles to echo off the surrounding hills. Before anyone could recover from such a hellish noise spilling from such a sweet creature, she was past Mason, past Tori, past Robbie, Bethany, and finally Beck himself to hurl herself into the open door of the barn, still screaming.

After that, one event blurred into the other.

"_CAT!_" Beck was running, sprinting after her like the fire was behind them and not before them, thinking of nothing but Cat choking on smoke, Cat hit on the head by a blazing shard of wood, Cat overcome by the heat and falling to the ground, helpless . . .

"_BECK!_" Jade bolted, but only made it two steps before jerking back, yelping as her shoulder and her arm tried to go two separate directions. "Let me GO!"

"_No_!" Mason's grip only tightened as she squirmed. She twisted around to tell him where she'd like him to go, but the burning steel in his eyes made her stop short. "I'm not gonna let you kill yourself!"

"But Beck –"

"I can't do much for him at this point and neither can you!" he said fiercely, jerking her chin up with his free hand so she met his eyes. "All I really care about now is you being safe!"

She felt tears stabbing at the corners of her eyes, but ignored them, looking up at him desperately.

"I said you were gonna have to choose," Mason said, just loud enough for her to hear. "Choose, Jade."

She spared one last look over her shoulder, after the boy who'd already disappeared after the girl he loved. And who loved him.

She collapsed abruptly, giving him just enough time to get his arms around her before her legs gave way. She buried her face in his shirt, hard enough to press the acrid smoke from her nostrils, the roaring and crackling from her ears. And Jade West sobbed.

**...**

_Hell_, Beck thought.

He wasn't swearing. That was the first impression he had, from the smell to the burning in his eyes and lungs to the red-orange light searing his eyes. He pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth, praying Cat had thought to do the same. What was she doing, anyway? All the horses had been cleared out. She'd helped with that herself.

Except . . .

Oh, God.

Sure enough, he could see the petite figure just ahead of him, stumbling and coughing, calling out in a small, choked voice.

"Lakota! _Lakota! _Mommy's coming!"

Lakota. Gray Lady's newborn, left in a stall with her mommy for the night.

She had to be in the last stall, of course. The barn's main hallway was fifty, seventy-five feet long max, but for some reason it felt much longer. The fire had started in the roof just above the front entrance; miraculously, there were less flames as they went further, though just as much smoke. Beck's foot caught on something, and he fell. A bare hand brushed something metal, and skin blistered and charred as he screamed.

"Beck!" For the first time the shape ahead of him slowed, hovering between his howl of anguish and the faintest shrieks of a panicking horse.

"Come on, keep moving!" He scrambled to his feet, clenching his fist against his chest. There was no point in stopping or turning around at this point. There was another exit in back, they just had to get to it without getting burned alive.

Cat, somehow, had managed to make it to the stall. Beck watched through streaming eyes as she reached out, then recoiled with a cry of pain, waving her hand crazily. A final jolt of adrenaline hit Beck's veins, and he was beside her in an instant.

"Don't touch it, the metal hurts!" Cat shouted, but Beck was far ahead of her. He came around to the front of the latch and kicked out with all his strength. The first kick it wobbled, the second kick it groaned, and by the third the heat-weakened metal snapped cleanly along the doorframe. The door swung open, and Cat was knocked to the ground as the near-crazed mare barreled out, determined to save her foal or die trying. She reared at the fire, as if attempting to distract it as Lakota galloped out the open back door, and then thundered into the open pasture and the hopeful shelter the far-off trees offered.

There was no time to check for injuries. Beck grabbed the scruff of Cat's neck and slung her over his shoulder in the same movement, charging for the door. The barn shuddered and groaned as he passed over the threshold, as if it's only reason for holding up had just left. Slowly, painfully, the entire front end of the barn crumbled to the ground, still burning, but less furiously. The battle was lost; it was only a matter of time before the rest of it followed suit. But Beck and Cat were clear, splayed out where Beck had fallen on the mercifully cool dirt road from the barn to the pasture. She stirred in his arms, just enough to face the sky, clotted with smoke but with a few brave stars still visible, and he sucked in enough clean air to shout to the others "WE'RE CLEAR!"

And then they both went completely limp, utterly spent, gasping as if to purge any last trace of smoke from their lungs. They stayed like that, tangled up in each other, heads tilted just enough to meet each other's eyes, until the firefighters found them and dragged them over to the trucks for shock treatment. They endured the questions and the medical once-over patiently, and then as soon as the EMTs turned their backs they were over by their friends, his arms wrapped around her from behind, staring at the smoldering wreckage of the barn in the steely light of dawn.

"Look," Cat said softly, her head bumping Beck's chin gently as she lifted her gaze to the sky.

Later they'd all spoken briefly to agree that none of them had ever seen a rainbow quite that bright.


End file.
